Ankle support and protection system

ABSTRACT

An ankle support and protection system is provided having a sock with an elongated elastic tube open at one end and closed as an opposed end. An intermediate portion of the tube away from the open end defines a pocket, the tube also defines a heel receptacle. The pocket is configured to receive a pad. The pocket is located proximate to the heel receptacle such that it aligns with a wearer&#39;s Malleus.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/792,709 filed on Jan. 15, 2019, entitled “ANKLE SUPPORT AND PROTECTION SYSTEM”, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all that is taught and disclosed therein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an ankle support and protection system, and more particularly to provide protection to the malleolus in a wide variety of persons.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The current teachings disclose an ankle support and protection system, which is useful for, inter alia, athletes. The malleolus is a bony projection protruding laterally outward from a person's ankle on both sides. Such a bony projection is more readily subject to injury due to the outward disposition, particularly with persons participating in sports activities, such as for example soccer, football, rugby, volleyball, baseball, softball and other such sports. It will be appreciated that other persons may also have vulnerabilities in the malleolus, such as elderly persons, or persons predisposed to injury, like people having weak ankle muscles. Therefore, a need exists to provide protection to the malleolus in a wide variety of persons.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1-4 show various views of a preferred embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Moreover, it will be appreciated that mechanical stability in the ankle region may also contribute to malleolus injuries in a variety of manners. For example, an athlete's poor ankle alignment may readily cause an additional protrusion of the malleolus beyond that which is normal, thereby exposing this bony projection to being struck by another athlete in a soccer match, football game, baseball game, or other similar activities. Indeed, athletes are not the only persons for whom poor ankle alignment are potentially subject to an increased probability of injury. Elderly and/or persons for whom ankle weakness is present may also contribute to increased possibility of angular malleolus protrusions and therefore enhanced probability of injury. The ankle support and protection system of the present teachings additionally mitigates the issue of lack of mechanical stability by providing support along a longitudinal axis of a person's ankle in a variety of macroscopic and microscopic manners. In one exemplary embodiment, macroscopic vertically oriented striations, which have some lateral mobility, secure the mechanical stability required to provide a variable disposition of the malleolus required to allow a minimal lateral displacement of approximately 10%.

In another embodiment, microscopic structures are designed create the vertical mechanical support system to allow the lateral displacement of the malleolus. It will be appreciated that nanostructures may also be designed in such a manner so as to create a more detailed and customized microstructure specifically anticipating a particular person's ankle and malleolus mechanical structure.

That is, additive manufacturing techniques may be employed to create highly specific layering striations, which use nano-materials such as carbon nanotube and/or buckyball multi-dimensional designs which when properly layered build out to a microstructure or macrostructure mechanical implementation which may be specifically designed to support a wide range of ankle configurations, but also to support a wide range of dynamic forces required by the individual. One configuration of carbon nano-tubes and buckyballs mechanically or electromagnetically coupled together may be structurally equivalent to a “hinge” type mechanism, but at a nano-scale level, layered using additive manufacturing such that a highly articulate structure is attainable once built up to a micro-scale or macro-scale dimension.

For example, a soccer player may require a more dynamic, but rigid mechanical support structure/protection than an elderly person. Embodiments of the present teachings can be designed from the nanostructure up to the macroscopic structure to provide highly articulate support for both athletic and elderly persons as well as all ankle structures in between.

It will be appreciated that the present disclosure may provide support and protection to both high performance athletes, as well as persons with weaker ankles, such as elderly persons, by both helping support mechanical requirements as well as providing direct deflection of focused impact on the malleolus, which may otherwise cause catastrophic injury. As shown in the FIGURE, a shield is disposed upon at least one side of an ankle, directly covering the malleolus in a manner designed to absorb and deflect a direct mechanical force impact incident upon the malleolus.

In one embodiment, using additive manufacture technology such as a three-dimensional printer, nano-structures may be layered in multiple configurations utilizing nano-tubes and buckyball layers which may articulate dynamically upon movement of the individual ankle and which are custom designed to a particular person's needs. For example, the exact structure of a malleolus varies in minor physical dimensions between persons, but major variations in the force vectors involved with the needs of an individual exist. For example, if a person has pronation, embodiments of the present teachings can be designed from the nano-level

up to the macroscopic level anticipating the needs of such pronation using additive manufacturing layering techniques, and the above-referenced “hinge” type configurations of carbon nanotube and buckyball elements. Moreover, the specific needs and lateral support required for a high performance athlete are different than an elderly person's lateral support needs. Indeed, current state of the art solutions treat both an elderly person and a high performance athlete's lateral support vectors identically; possibly due to the scaled manufacturing costs associated with such state of the art solutions to the proposed issues. Simply put, it is less expensive to design one sock that fits everyone. However, the present teachings obviate such current solutions by providing the custom support needs required of individuals in a manner competitive for costs associated with manufacturing.

By utilizing the current teachings, a cost-efficient (from a manufacturing perspective) ankle support system is readily designed taking into account the variation in force vectors that span the range from a high performance athlete to elderly person. As will be appreciated, designing an ankle support system for a high performance athlete, using state of the art technologies would be significantly more expensive than for an elderly person. However, using the present teachings, more cost efficient ankle support and protective systems may be designed.

In one embodiment, a front portion of the ankle support system comprises a protective layer, adapted to protect a shin of a user. Current state of the art solutions for providing protection for shins are awkward, uncomfortable and hinder full athletic performance, such as for example shin guards. The present teachings obviate the need for such prior solutions by embedding into the ankle support system a soft, flexible but strong layer of material, such as for example customized materials designed by D30 Technologies. Such materials tune a customized polymer blend to achieve specific properties such as flexibility, stability and strength. Other materials achieving the aforementioned mechanical properties are within the scope and spirit of this disclosure.

In one embodiment, such a hard, thin material may be inserted into at least one thin pocket disposed upon a front portion of the ankle support and protection system. Such materials may be composed of, inter alia, plastic, metal or a D30 Technology “super gel”.

In one embodiment, disposed upon a rear portion of the ankle support and protection system will be a zipper, adapted to open and close such that a user may insert, secure during use and also remove and change different protective inserts, such as those described hereinabove.

The foregoing description illustrates exemplary implementations, and novel features, of aspects of an ankle support and protection system. Alternative implementations are suggested, but it is impractical to list all alternative implementations of the present teachings. Therefore, the scope of the presented disclosure should be determined only by reference to the appended claims, and should not be limited by features illustrated in the foregoing description except insofar as such limitation is recited in an appended claim.

While the above description has pointed out novel features of the present disclosure as applied to various embodiments, the skilled person will understand that various omissions, substitutions, permutations, and changes in the form and details of the present teachings illustrated may be made without departing from the scope of the present teachings.

Each practical and novel combination of the elements and alternatives described hereinabove, and each practical combination of equivalents to such elements, is contemplated as an embodiment of the present teachings. Because many more element combinations are contemplated as embodiments of the present teachings than can reasonably be explicitly enumerated herein, the scope of the present teachings is properly defined by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All variations coming within the meaning and range of equivalency of the various claim elements are embraced within the scope of the corresponding claim. Each claim set forth below is intended to encompass any apparatus or method that differs only insubstantially from the literal language of such claim, as long as such apparatus or method is not, in fact, an embodiment of the prior art. To this end, each described element in each claim should be construed as broadly as possible, and moreover should be understood to encompass any equivalent to such element insofar as possible without also encompassing the prior art. Furthermore, to the extent that the term “includes” is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising”. 

I claim:
 1. A sock comprising: an elongated elastic tube open at one end and closed as an opposed end; an intermediate portion of the tube away from the open end defining a pocket; the tube defining a heel receptacle; the pocket being configured to receive a pad; the pocket being located proximate to the heel receptacle such that it aligns with a wearer's Malleus. 